mary in the junkyard

mary in the junkyard — the London-based band of Clari Freeman-Taylor (vocals, guitar), Saya Barbaglia (bass, viola), and David Addison (drums) — present “this is my california,” their first new music since the release of their debut EP, This Old House, this past spring via AMF Records. The group will make their live debut in the US next month in New York City, supporting Model/Actriz at TV Eye on Wed. Dec. 4th, and headlining Baby’s All Right on Thu. Dec. 5th. This perfectly caps off a breakout year for the band who have sold out shows across the UK and Europe, and garnered critical acclaim from the likes of NME, The FADER, DIY, Dazed, FLOOD, and CLASH, who hailed the group as “artisans of atmospheric experimental rock.”

mary in the junkyard is one of the brightest new creative forces in the UK, a young group who blur the lines between leftfield experimentation and moments of melodic storytelling that evoke a vivid sense of place. As discussed in their FADER interview, the band “met while studying orchestral music and used their downtime to write what they describe as ‘silly songs,’ pop-oriented material a world apart from both the classics they studied and the ‘angry weepy chaos’ music they would go on to make together.”

Produced by Craig Silvey (Sam Fender, Wunderhouse) and premiered this morning via BBC Radio 6 Music, “this is my california” retains this bewitching power but also feels like the sound of the band relaxing and finding an exciting new terrain beyond the spectral sounds of the Richard Russell-produced This Old House. The track is a moment of reflection, allowing room for the band to breathe and find space as a bobbing hypnotic groove buoys the track throughout its runtime. Lyrically, the song is a move away from the intense imagery of their EP, with Freeman-Taylor providing a calm picture of creating her own paradise wherever she can find it. 

Freeman-Taylor says, “‘this is my california’ is a nostalgic song about finding my own dreams. Seeing ‘California’ through films and TV always felt like a paradise or idea of success that didn’t really resonate with me. Also in the song there’s a lot of lyrics about ‘Something lifting you out’ – growing up me and my friends would climb everything, roofs and trees, maybe to feel like we were escaping the place we were in or feel a kind of wonder of how small it was from high up.”

mary in the junkyard is supporting Sports Team throughout the UK this month. They will return to the US to play SXSW next year. Next week, sees the release of their NME cover story.